A Gentelman's Blue
by Endwithabang
Summary: This kind of thing dosen't just happen, it means something. If you're not yourself, its best to find out why. And fast. Else all we have worked so hard for will crumble to dust in our hands.
1. Contempt and Comtemplation

**Welcome to Café Mew Mew!**

Ichigo entered the café sleepily. It wasn't that she hadn't slept well, but her dreams kept bugging her, and waking up early never quite agreed with her, especially on weekends.

_Ryou better not be around now or God so help me I'll…_

"Hey, Ichigo, you're late!" Ryou complained from somewhere out of sight in the (secret) lab behind the café's kitchen.

"Yah, by like five seconds! Cut a girl some slack!"

Pudding seemingly popped out of nowhere in her yellow waitress uniform.

"Were you getting ready for something? Are you going on a date with Masaya after work? Is that why you took so long, with getting ready and such? Tell me, tell me, tell me!!"

Ichigo sighed. "No. I haven't been sleeping well. Let's just get to work, okay?"

"Okay!" Pudding grinned.

"Where's Lettuce? And Mint? And, now I think about it, Zakoru?"

"Lettuce is cleaning up a plate she broke, Mint is drinking her morning tea, and Zakoru…" Pudding recited, then faltered.

"Modeling job, right?" Ichigo sighed.

"I _think_…"

"Whatever. If she's not here to help, I don't think it's all that important." Ichigo picked up a broom and started sweeping.

"Good morning, Ichigo." Keiichiro stepped out smiling from the kitchen. "Did you end up skipping breakfast again?"

_I swear, that man reads minds _

_._"Yah. Didn't have time to eat."

"Sit." Was Keiichiro's reply, as he disappeared back into the kitchen only to return with a delicious-looking pastry and tea.

Ichigo sat obediently and ate with much gusto. "This is great, Keiichiro! You're the best!"

"I'd like one of those too, Keiichiro, please!" Pudding piped up.

"Of course! One for you too, Lettuce? How about you, Mint?"

"Y-Yes please." Lettuce stuttered, having finished cleaning up the shards of the plate she had dropped.

"Sounds good." Came Mint's reply from her seat not too far away.

"Alright, then! The café doesn't open for half an hour, so Ryou shouldn't mind if you're not all working just yet." Keiichiro served everyone, and then disappeared once again.

"Can't believe he makes us all come half an hour early! I mean, who does he think he is? I could be sleeping in like a _regular person_ on the weekend, _but no_! Ryou _just has_ to ruin it for me." Ichigo grumbled at her empty plate.

"We _are_ his employees, Ichigo. We do get paid, and so he expects us to be here early to get ready for our customers." Mint sipped her tea.

"What do you mean _our_ customers!? You don't even work!" Ichigo seethed.

"What are you all doing? I thought you all were _supposed_ to be _working_!" Ryou scolded, seeing his employees sitting around, eating.

"We're eating, thank you very much! I had to skip breakfast because of you, I hope you know!" Ichigo fumed.

"Well, your done eating now, aren't you? Now, get back to work!" And with that final order, Ryou marched off.

"I hate him." Ichigo grumbled, picking up her plate to return it to the kitchen, then went outside to sweep and get away from Ryou.

She was almost finished sweeping when she heard a crash. Assuming Lettuce had just dropped another plate, she ignored it.

"Oh my god!!"

The panicked exclamation sent Ichigo running to the source of the crash; the kitchen.

Lettuce and Keiichiro stood, frozen. Lettuce had tears running down her cheeks, and Keiichiro's cheerful smile seemed frozen.

Ichigo quickly saw why.

Broken plate fragments were scattered around on the floor in-between the two. One of them had impaled itself in Keiichiro's leg. Black fabric became tinted as blood trickled from the wound; the shard was long and thin, and only about half of it hadn't dug itself into Keiichiro's leg.

"Oh…oh my god…" Ichigo could barley speak, it was too much.

The frozen three heard footsteps. Ryou entered.

"What's the….oh." He was struck silent.

Keiichiro kneeled on one knee.

_Is he going to faint? Is the blood loss that much?_

Ryou's eyes grew wide as he realized what was going on.

Lettuce gasped. "Don't!"

Ichigo was confused. Then she saw it. "Keiichiro…"

In one swift motion, small smile still in place, Keiichiro wrapped his fingers around the shard.

Hearts skipped beats. There was no sound, scream, not even the moan Ichigo had expected at the least.

Then, it was all over and the shard, about as long as Ichigo's middle finger, lay bloody in Keiichiro's hand.

Ryou spoke first. "That…that was dangerous and stupid. You should have gone to the hospital and had it removed! Why didn't anyone stop him?!"

Ichigo wanted to yell at him, to tell him he could have stopped it, but she realized tears were slowly forming in Ryou's eyes.

Keiichiro sighed. "Just get me a bandage." His customary smile, one he had even worn when taking the shard out, had faded.

_Actually, he looks really pale…_

"I'm sorry, Akasaka-san!" Lettuce fought to keep back tears. "I know it's not enough, but I really am! This….this is my entire fault! If I wasn't such a stupid clumsy worthless little girl I could have prevented all of this!"

"It's not your fault. That was a pretty stupid thing of me to do anyway. I shouldn't have worried all of you! Please, try to forget it. The café should be opening in just a bit!" Keiichiro tried to cheer everyone up.

Ryou exited and returned with some clothe to dress the gash. Zakoru and Mint appeared too.

Mint surveyed the situation. "Lettuce! Broke another plate already? Someone could get hurt, with you around. I mean, seriously...oh my god." She stared at Keiichiro as he bandaged his injury.

"You're…hurt…" Zakoru looked shocked.

Keiichiro smiled at her briefly, and then turned back to his work.

"

Well, nothing to see here, I don't really like blood, lets go, Zakoru!" Mint blurted, rushing out.

Ichigo glanced at Zakoru. Mint was tugging on her arm, trying to get her to leave with her. Zakoru seemed not to notice. The silent mew walked slowly up to Keiichiro and did something quite unexpected.

She kissed him, her lips gently pressed against his.

Mint, Ichigo, Lettuce, and Ryou watched wide-eyed.

Keiichiro pulled himself back almost immediately, flinching away from her touch. He stood and walked out.

"Thank you for your concern, everyone, but I'm as fine as always."

Keiichiro's words hung in the air, as wounding as the shards of porcelain had been.

Perhaps, to some, even more so.

"What was that?" Ryou strode into the lab, hands folded behind his head, trying to look as unconcerned as possible.

"Don't ask me, Ryou. Ask her." Keiichiro's words seemed not to come from him; his tone was slightly tainted and cold, his words themselves sounding bitter and frigid.

"That doesn't sound like the Keiichiro I know…" Ryou's expression mirrored the concern for his friend he felt inside. After all, this was Akasaka Keiichiro, the young man who had once been even younger, seemingly inexperienced, who had taken on the burden named Shirgone Ryou ever since his parents had been killed in the lab fire so many years ago. Akasaka Keiichiro, he-who-never-stops-smiling-unless-he-thinks-no-one-is-looking-or-the-situation-calls-for-it. Akasaka Keiichiro, Ryou's parent, mentor, companion. Friend to everybody. Ryou would give anything to have the people skills Keiichiro had. Truth be told, sometimes he envied his companion. It would be so nice, just for one day, not to constantly be reminded of his parent's horrible deaths, not to be reminded that the girl he loved had feelings for another, not to be reminded he had the fate of the world on his shoulders.

_Akasaka Keiichiro, you have the perfect life._

So why, oh why was Keiichiro so upset?

"I'm sorry, Ryou. You're right, it doesn't sound like me at all. I shouldn't be making everyone so worried. It was wrong of me. Forgive me." Keiichiro smiled contritely, something only he could do.

"How is it wrong for you to make us worried, Keiichiro? Us worrying is our way of showing we care. It isn't wrong." Ryou was now _very_ worried.

"Well, a person being upset isn't good, is it? And I made you and everyone else upset by the things I said. That isn't good. Isn't good meaning bad, meaning wrong. So it was wrong, I was wrong, and I should apologize, which I did. Now, you either need to reject or accept my apology. So, which is it?"

Ryou just gapped at his friend. "You…you don't have to apologize for being sad and making us care about you, Keiichiro! If we care, it's our own choice, and we are only upset because we never noticed you were sad before."

Keiichiro thought for a moment. "So…you were upset because I was sad and you wanted to help?"

"Yes."

Keiichiro beamed, a new idea forming I his head. "Then I won't be sad anymore, and then you won't need to help, and then nobody will be upset! It shouldn't be too hard, to never be sad. Some people are sad all the time, so surely someone can do the opposite. Anyway, it's practically what I do everyday, so it really should be quite easy. Everything just goes back to normal!"

Ryou just stared at Keiichiro for a couple minutes, in shock. "K-Keiichiro, being sad is part of life. It…its part of being human. Part of life's great experience. If you're never sad, you aren't really living life."

"Ah. I see…" Keiichiro pondering this for a moment. "What do you expect me to do then, Ryou? Die?"

Ryou sat down, and, with head in his hands, started to weep.

Keiichiro stood and put his arms around his friend, an embrace reminiscent of when Ryou had been so much younger, kept up by the nightmares of fire and burning houses that plagued him, reminding him night after night of the disaster that had taken away those closest to him.

Keiichiro could not remember the last time Ryou had cried in front of him, it had been so long ago. He could, however, remember the last time Ryou had cried quietly behind closed doors, hoping desperately not to be heard, not to have such weakness discovered. Yesterday. Keiichiro, his hearing being quite acute, had heard it all, but had not acted. Ryou would just have stopped crying, perhaps only when Keiichiro came to comfort him, perhaps for much much longer.

_You are but a child still, Ryou. Do not be afraid to let your emotions out. It is not a weakness. _

_It never is, not for people like you. You are meant to live life to it's fullest, which means enduring sorrows too. _

_That is how we are different, Ryou. _

_I hope you will forgive me for deceiving you so._

_But really, when you think about it, I smile too much. _

_That's just proof I could never be happy._

Ryou let everyone off early from work. The action surprised Ichigo, but deep down she was kind of happy. This meant she could see Masaya, or perhaps head home to spend more time with her family, or hang out with a friend....

No. No friends. No Masaya. Not today. Ichigo decided to just head home. She needed some time to think. Her friends wouldn't understand her problems with being a Mew, and Masaya's presence suddenly seemed a bit unwanted. Anyway, being around him only reminded her of Kish's affections, which would only make her nervous and embarrassed and her cat ears would pop out. Yes, home was definitely the place to go. There were too many worries none of her friends or family could understand, and there was no better place to think than locked up in her room.

Ichigo hurried home, grabbed a cooling cookie from off her mom's baking racks on the counter, and tramped up to her room. Shutting the door, she put her bag down next to her desk, changed out of her work clothes, and laid on her bed, munching on her cookie.

_Mmmhh. Good cookie. Chocolate chip._

Ichigo smiled as she made herself more comfortable on her bed, half wondering why she got up in the morning, it was so nice and cozy here.


	2. Message Recived

_I get up because I have a world to save. _

_I get up because I have friends who count on me. _

_That is why I get up everyday except weekends and sometimes those too; because I can make a difference, because I can protect the things I care about. _

_Because I am needed._

_But what about people like Ryou and Keiichiro? _

_People who can't help out, can only sit and watch as the things they have worked their whole lives on and care so much about march out to defend the earth, probably to be injured or killed? _

_How do they cope with it? _

_How do they live with knowing they could get to work one day and one of us might not be there but instead lying in a hospital bed or in a morgue?_

Ichigo made a mental note to be nicer to you and to pay more attention to Keiichiro.

_Keiichiro…poor Zakoru._

Ichigo wondered if she should call Zakoru. The girl was usually cold and mute, but Ichigo figured that even if Zakoru didn't want to talk she would at least be showing Zakoru she cared.

She called.

"Hello?" Zakoru's voice sounded as frigid as a blizard.

"Um, hi! It's me, Ichigo..."Ichigo faltered.

"Yes? What do you want?" Zakoru's tone was polite yet forceful.

"Um...do you wanna maybe get a bite out to eat? I just thought that maybe the two of us could talk or something..." Ichigo was flustered.

"Talk. About what?"

"Uh, I don't know...just stuff, you know...school, annoying people, guys, um...."

"You're on the phone with me right now, Ichigo. You can talk to me now, if you want to." Zakoru's voice did not sound inviting.

"Okay...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about Keiichiro, and that maybe what you did was just a bit too fast for him and he needs to think it over. I want you to know you can always talk to me about stuff, and I'll always be there for you." Ichigo blurted out with as much confidence in her voice as she could force out.

"May I remind you that you have boy troubles too that you ovbiously don't know how to deal with. I suggest you solve your own problems before you sart helping others."Zakoru pianfully reminded Ichigo of Kishu and Ryou's unwanted affections twards her. "I'll talk to Keiichiro tommorow. Now, is there anything else?"

"No, Zakoru-san."

"Well then. Good night." Zakoru hung up.


	3. Heartache strikes again

Keiichiro looked around his apartment, feeling something was missing.

_I should be heading to work by now...what is it I'm forgetting? I know it's something..._

Suddenly, Keiichiro was gripped by the sensation of someone plunging an ice pick into his head. The unsuspected force of the headache was almost enough to cause him to fall to the floor in weak-kneed agony. Keiichiro grappled with his pain and with clenched fists he found him self a place to sit. He gently lowered his head into his hands, forcing himself to take deep calming breaths. He mentally recited a bit of poetry; doing anything he could to distract himself from the unbearable torture.

_The King sits on a black-white throne_

_But to his subjects yet unknown_

_The power that lies in the crown_

_Could very soon come toppling down_

_As Knights wait with bowed heads_

_Hearing proclamations read._

_The power resides with the King_

_In regal blood-line and royal ring_

_His voice decides the fates of many_

_Slay one and save twenty_

Relief flooded Keiichiro as the pain subsided. He unclenched his fists, creasent-moon shaped depressions marked his palms were his fingernails had dug. He had almost broken skin.

_Maybe I'm sick...Maybe I should just email Ryou and tell him I can't work today...after all, that headache was pretty bad, and I wouldn't want to have another one at the café..._

_No. I'll go into work. It's not that bad. _

_Anyway, the girls might need me. If an emergency came up and I wasn't there, I don't know if I would be able to forgive myself._

_I'll just take some pain killers, just in case. I'll be fine. I always am._

Unbidden memories flooded Keiichiro's mind, a rare occurrence; being an Akasaka, Keiichiro was usually focused only on the task at hand. Never-the-less, the unwanted events of yesterday swept his mind of all else.

_Lettcue broke that plate...poor girl, she must be so upset, I should have comforted her more._

_Zakuro...Zakuro kissed me! Kissed me! And what did I do? I Walked away and totally blew her off! I could have told her I..._

_No. Now is not the time for these thoughts. Ryou's counting on me to be at the cafe._

_Ryou...poor child, so worried and sad. I wish I could do more to help him...I..._

_I didn't mean those things I said! Whay did I have to be so stupid and say them! Baka, thats what I am. A supreme idiot. Why...what made me say those things?! _

The sudden crippling pain of another headache set his nerve endings on fire. Keiichiro fell to his knees, biting his tounge to keep from crying out.

_The King...the King....what about the King again? _

Keiichiro struggled to remember the poetry, desprate to take his him off the pian that was slowly spreading from his head; creeping slowly down his spine, threatening to engulf him.

Then, as suddenly as it came, it was gone.

_Okay, that's it. I'm calling in sick. _

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyway, I know the headache idea wasn't so original, but hey, its a classic. Gotta love a classic.  
Maybe not so much loving Keiichiro in pain, but he suffers for the sake of the plot.  
All is not in vain.  
The poetry is mine, I wrote it, so feel free to comment on that too. Sorry, I've got a thing for Chess Peices.  
Anyway, comment comment comment!!  
Keiichiro will make cake for who ever comments!!

**Keiichiro~** I will?

**Endwithabang~** Yes! You will!

By now, everybody!:D

**~Endwithabang**


	4. The Internet has a pulse

Okay, these are soposed to be emails. Just to let you all know. Very pathetic, I know, but I tried. Please pretend with me that the names in the "To:" section are emails. thank you for your patiance.  
**~Endwithabang**

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

To: RyouShirogone

From: KeiichiroAkasaka

Subject: Sick

Message:

First of all, I would like to apologize for the things I said yesterday. I really didn't mean what I said. I hope you can forgive me.

Second, I am sorry to say that I woun't be at work today. I think I might have caught some bug or something. I should be better by tommorow.

Give my best wishes to the girls!  
~Keiichiro

To: IchigoStrawberry, Mintotea143, Lettucefish, Zakuro13howl, ThegreatpreformerPudding!

From: RyouShirogone

Subject: Important message about work today

Message:

Just letting you all know that we woun't be having work today. Closed the cafe for toay because Keiichiro's sick. Says he should be better soon, so don't plan any maojor vacations just yet.

Yes, that means you, Ichigo.

Keiichiro sends his best wishes,  
~Ryou

To:RyouShirogone

From: ThegreatpreformerPudding!

Subject: Poor Keii-chan!

Message:

Hope Keii-chan feels better! Do you think I should visit him, or is he too sick? Do you think I would catch something? I really really really want to make sure he's doing okay. He's maii oni-chan, you know!

~Pudding!

To: ThegreatpreformerPudding!

From: RyouShirogone

Subject: Re: Poor Keiichan!

Message:

I don't really think you should visit him. Keiichiro might be too tired for company, being sick and all. Anyway, you being a Mew, we wouldn't want you to get sick. Your'e too important.

Don't mean to dash your hopes, and "Keii-chan" should be better soon,  
~Ryou


	5. Blackbird Pi

Pi stood beside Kishu on the top of a Tokyo skyscraper, looking down at the busy city below.

_This could all be ours someday...but not if the Mew Mews continue thier stupid meddling. _

"Deep Blue says he is gaining power. He says he'll be awakening soon. It'll be nice when we won't have to deal with this anymore." Pi's face was expresionless.

"Yah, nice for you. Remind me agian how its nice for me?" Kishu was not in a good mood.

_Too much brooding on how he'll never get Ichigo, no doubt. Trying to convice himself to give up on her always puts him in a foul disposition._

_Never thought about how Deep Blue rising again might not be good for me, did he?_

"It should be nice for you because you no longer are put into the uncomfortable position of having to kill the girl you have feelings for. Now there is someone else to do it for you. You will no longer have to deal with a guilty conscience." Pi tryed hard to cover his annoyance but it showed in his waspish tone of voice, if not in his eyes.

Kishu was scilent for a moment, something Pi was slightly grateful for. He had never been good at talking about love, and had never been good at talking normally to Kish, so the two but together were just bitterly short of a nightmare.

"Pi, do you...have feelings for any of the Mew mews? I know Tart likes the yellow one, Pudding. He won't admit it, but its a little obvious. You're very unemotional, so I actually have to ask instead of just watching what you do. I really want to know. You'll tell me, won't you Pi?" Kishu flashed his comrad his best puppy-dog eyes and held onto Pi's leg, looking as pathetic and pitiful as possible.

Pi shook him off roughly. "Let go! I do not have feelings for any of the Mews, thank you, and you would be the last person I'd tell if I did!"

Kishu looked hurt. "Pi, you're so crule. All I was trying to do was get to know you better." He simpered, trying hard to get Pi to give in.

"Well, what if I don't want to know you?!" Pi snapped and strode off, dematerilising and materialising back inside his room.

Pi's room was all blank and white, meticuiously clean and deviod of any ortimentation or personal belonging. Pi had packed extremely light for his journey to earth, and had not included anything he had deemed "unnessary" when he had packed in a fit of rare cold fury against his family, the Authorization Officers who had ordered him off his home planet, his fellow passengers (or, in this case, passenger, Tart had been the only one with him) on the ship, actually just everything in general.

Pi had not regreted his light packing; no momentos or decorations for his room also ment there would be nothing to remember his family by, nothing to relate the humans he had been ordered to destroy to anyone back home.  
That was exactly how he wanted it.

Pi laid down lazily on his bed, turning on his wall screen to watch the Tokyo news. Pictures of the Mews popped up automaticly, the background voice of show-hosts filling up the lonely scilence that balketed Pi's room.

Pi pressed a couple of buttons on his wall, flipping through channels with little interest. He had already watched the live casting of all of this before. Stupid humans and thier stupid re-runs.  
The new News on the Mews was boring. Everything seemed to go over the same information, ask the same questions, over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

"Who are these misterious super-girls?"

"The Mew Mews, what are they fighting for? Where is thier base? Who are they really?"

"Mews, why hide the secreat identities? What gives them such awsome powers?"

_DNA infusions, bakas. Even Tart can figure that one out. _

_Then again, the humans know even less about thier heros then we do. That fact could be useful later..._

_We'll conquer this world, and soon. I know it. Slowly but surley. _

_Deep Blue will finnally manifest himself and no longer will I have to suffer the asosation of these inferiors. _

_Suffer no longer Tart's whining, Kishu's obsession with that human Ichigo girl, the Mew Mews always defeating us, ruining my plans for a better future for not only me but all of my race. _

_I'll kind of miss everyone, when this is all over and we've won and I get to go my own way._

_I'll miss Tarts child-like antics, Kishu's flambouancy and stlye, maybed even miss some of the Mews. Thier chalanges have always given me something to think about._

_Yes, I'll miss them. A lot._

_But not enough to come back to them when its all over._

_No, not that much._

_Never that much._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey everybody! I really hope I got Pi right in this chapter...I haven't really focused on the aliens all that much so I figured I might put them in.  
I apoloigize for not updating eariler, but I wanted to cheak over everything before publishing. Usually I update in a bit of a rush, so please excuse previous spelling errors.  
Thanks for your patiance! I really aprecate all your comments, so, like always, I'll leave you with this pesky reminder;

Comment Comment Comment!!! I mean it! :D

Anyway, hope you don't think I'm carzy with that last remark.  
I bit thee farewell!  
**~Endwithabang**


	6. A Welcome Back

Ryou's look of shock only made Keiichiro's smile grow larger as he walked through the doors of Cafe Mew Mew.

"Hey, Ryou! Didn't expect to see me back, did you?" Keiichiro laughed.

"N-no, I didn't. Glad to have you back, though. How many days were you out for, then?"

"Three."

"Geez, felt like years." Ryou smiled, happy to have his friend back_.  
He does look a little pale, though...maybe he should rest a bit more... _

"Don't worry about me, okay?" Keiichiro grinned, answering Ryou's unspoken question. "I'm much better now. It wasn't really all that sick, anyway. Just some killer migraines, but they're gone now."

"Killer migraines, eh?" Ryou looked interested. These symptoms seemed familiar somehow...

"Its really nothing. I'm fine now, and ready to get back to work." The brunette waved off his friends concern like it was an annoying fly. "Get anything done in the lab while I was gone?"

"Not much. Ichigo's been trying really hard to convince Zakuro to talk to you when you got better."

"Don't change the subject. What work did you get done?"

Ryou felt his cheeks turning red. Truth was, he hadn't gotten any work done. He just hadn't been able to concentrate with his best friend and co-worker out sick. "You don't change the subject!"

Keiichiro sighed. "We're talking about work, Ryou, not love."

"I beg to differ!" The blond shot his comrade an obstinate look.

Keiichiro just shrugged. "Whatever." He disappeared into the kitchen, determined to make up for the days he had missed.

Ryou followed after him. "Really, Keiichiro, what's up with you? I mean, seriously, you haven't been yourself lately...If you need a couple more days off, I'm sure we can spare you. Given, me and the girls would really miss you, but if you need it we'd manage." Ryou looked at his friend solemnly.

Keiichiro smiled. "I'm fine, as always, Ryou." He was getting out some ingredients for a cake he was going to bake when he paused suddenly. He laughed quitely. Ryou couldn't remember the last time Keiichiro had laughed. It was a very nice sound, and Ryou felt saddened that he didn't get to hear it more often.

"What is it? What's so funny?" The blond asked, confused.

Keiichiro looked up with a grin. "I just realized, just a second ago, I sounded like you."

Ryou rolled his eye and headed back to the lab, eager to get some work done now Keiichiro had arrived and maybe make up for the days he had only been able to stare at his computer screen as blankly as a stone statue. The blond flicked on the radio before he left. He paused suddenly in mid step.

_Wait a second...Killer migraines?!_  
He rushed down the hallway and through the lab door, filled with purpose.

Keiichiro whistled cheerfully to the Christmas carols blasting over the radio while he worked.  
The cafe door opened with a small bell-chime. The baker paid it no attention until the young lady herself was standing in front of him. Startled, he almost dropped his cake.

"Oh, hello, Zakoru..."


	7. Something a bit sweeter

Zakoru seemed as bemused as Keiichiro was as to how she had suddenly appeared in the way of the young man.

"Oh...hello, Keiichiro."

The two just stared at each-other for a moment in complete and awkward scilence. The only sound that could be heard was the soft song-lyrics in the background.

_Last Christmas_

_I gave you my heart_

_But the very next day_

_You gave it away_

_This year, to save me some tears,_

_I'll give it to someone_

_I'll give it to someone_

_Special _

_  
_Keiichiro was not a very violent person; he wanted to dismantle and burn the radio.

_Okay, the Christmas songs are sooo not helping me talk to him...__  
_Zakoru could see dough for making Christmas cookies on the counter next to the cake supplies.

"Can I help?" She pointed towards the cookies.

Keiichiro, grateful the opressive scilence had been broken, smiled. "Of course!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The two worked in scilence, but it was a welcoming scilence, more peaceful than awkward or uncomfortable.

Keiichiro would roll out the cookie dough and cut shapes with the cookie cutters. Zakuro would put the cookies in the oven, and decorate the ones that had finished baking.  
The team was quite efficent and soon they had made more cookies than either of them could count.

It was relaxing work, and Zakuro had quickly gotten over her nervousness about talking to Keiichiro.

"Glad you're better." She spoke up.

It was the first sentence Keiichiro had heard come out of her mouth scince the 'Can I help' about half an hour ago.  
"Thanks...How has everybody been while I was gone?"

"Fine."

"Thats good."

More scilence. Conversation did not rear its ugly head untill two long minutes had blow by.

"How have you been?" Keiichiro asked good-naturedly.

"Fine."

"It's December, right?"

"Yes."

"Thats funny...." Keiichiro seemed thoughtful.

"What?"

"Its not all that cold."

"Yet."

"Good point."

Like a general, the clock marched five long minutes off the edge of the day, faithful to thier suicide mission.

"Are you going to do anything for the holidays?"

"Probably not. You?"

"Probably not."

_These breaks of scilence are getting harder and harder to take...I should probably bring up what I wanted to talk about now...Keiichiro will probably be very polite about the whole thing, I'm sure, if he dosen't return my feelings....  
_Zakuro gathered her confidence.

"Keiichiro?"

"Yes?" The young ma smiled.

"I...Well, you probably already know this, but I have feelings for you, and would like to know if you return them."  
The Wolf Mew looked Keiichiro strait in his silver-blue unreadable yes.

"I....I..." Keiichiro suddenly started to sway slightly. "I...."

_I'm feeling really light-headed...._

"I..."

_Crud, headache!_

"I..."

Keiichiro dropped to the floor.

"Ryou! Ryou!" Zajuro started running toward the lab.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey, everybody! Sorry, it's the holiday season 'round here in the USA, and I've been so busy I just haven't really had time to write....  
**O.o** Christmas eve is tommorrow!!! **panic**  
Scince its that time of year, I tryed to fit in some hoilday stuff....Hope everyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas has not gotten offened by my referances to that holiday. If you have, I apologize. I mean to offence.

Anyway, hope that was epic enough for you all and caused a lot of suspence.  
Maybe Ryou will have figured out what's up with Keiichiro by next chapter, maybe not....  
I might make you all wait...**ehehehehe...**

Well, thats all for now, except maybe the annoying reminder to comment, but you already know all about that one, don't cha...  
If you have any theroys about what'll happen next, feel free to tell me, I might end up using your idea.....**:D  
**Got to go, though, folks.

I bit thee a farewell and a great Holiday season!  
**~Endwithabang**


	8. Apologies!

Hey, everybody! I'd like to apologize for my latest baka typeo. When I was writing my christmas authors note-thingy, I put "I mean to offend." I meant to say "I don't mean to offend." But as I tryed to go back, I could not erase my error. Forgive me. I am a hugly bad speller. I need beta....  
Anyway, now my sobbing apology is out there, (yes, I was sobbing, if you couldn't tell) I'd like to continue with a new chapter. A very short one, given, and I have no excuses this time, so **nevous laughter** you all are just going to have to live with it. Sorry for the inconvienence, and I REALLY MEAN NO OFFENCE I EVEN NAMED THE CH APOLOGY PLZ OH PLZ FORGIVE ME!!!! I also apologize for all of my terrable OOC. I'm a baka, I know.

wow, do I sound pitiful,

**~Endwithabang **

**___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

Ryou sipped his hot coco nervously as he watched and Zakuro watched Keiichiro's now-peacful form gently rise and lower with every breath taken. Not knowing really what to do, the two of them had laid the

delicate body down on a bench in the lab. Ryou thanked the stars he hadn't been in the room when Keiichiro had still been conscious. By the time he had gotten to the kitchen, his comrades body had already been lying forlornly on the floor.

"You sure we shouldn't call 911?" Zarkuro asked as calmly as possilble.

"I don't think we should..." Ryou was slighty unsure of himself.

"It could be something serious..." Zakuro spoke in a tone of voice that indicated that if Ryou didn't give her a good reason not to dial that number she'd start punching in digits in the next two seconds.

"The symptoms he was having seemed familiar to another case me and Keiichiro had been studying... If we took him to hospital and he was sick with some alien pestilance, others could get sick and ide before we could even start to find a cure. I care about Keiichiro more than anyone, but if it is something alien, we're just going to have to wait."

"Assuming it _is_ something alien..."

"Correct."

"What makes you think so?"

Ryou looked away from Zakuro's piercing purple eyes. "Nothing."

"Yeah, right. Clue me in already."

"Well, me and Keiichiro had been studying some alien culture from the vids we picked up from waves sent off of the space craft they were using. Both of us were really interested in thier sort of monarch/god/commander, who is only refured to as 'Deep Blue' and is soposed to manifest itself inside a human's body when earth is going to be conquered. Keiichiro was especially interested. I'm not sure if indeed Deep Blue has chosen to manifest himself inside Keiichiro and thats why all this has happened to him, or if it's something a whole lot worse, like some uncurable alien pestilance."


	9. Conditions

"Regardless of the cause of all this, we have to do our best for Keiichiro on our own, with out outside authorities. We can handle this on our own. He is going to be fine, I promise."

Ryou looked into Zakoru's eyes and found his own determination mirrored in those deep purple irises.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was cold.

Very cold.

Not that Keiichiro minded. He actually even preferred it, being cold, to being somewhere with a hotter climate. He would never complain to anyone if a room was a little too warm for his taste, knowing most people did not share his feelings, but whenever he was home he found himself turning his thermostat lower and lower on nice winter days and simply sitting at his desk working at his computer without a jacket on.

Of course, he would always reheat the place if he knew he was having guests over. Nobody else could be expected to suffer in such absurd temperatures.

Oddly, the weather when it was cold seemed to fit him. Him and all his nice smiles and finger-tips clacking on his laptop keyboard and his baking and making tea and analytical thinking and presumed optimism and bad dreams and avoidance of questions. Not that he would ever tell anyone that. Any of it.

Ever.

Keiichiro wondered if he was asleep. After all, all he could see was blackness.

_Yes. _

_I'm asleep. Should I wake up?_

_It's cold. Maybe I'm at home. I should wake up, just to check, right?_

_Yes._

Something in the back of the Akasaka's head called quite loudly for him to wake up.

_There is something that happened. You are needed conscious. _

_Very well then._

The brunette opened his eyes. He wasn't at home. He was in the lab.

He sat up.

"Keiichiro!" Ichigo's voice rang in the baker's ears.

"You're up!" Lettuce's smile could be heard in her tone.

"Keii-chan! Keii-chan's awake everybody!" Keiichiro could hear the smallest Mew jumping up and down in excitement.

"We can see that, Pudding." Mint said, not unkindly for once.

"You had me worried." Ryou sighed in relief.

Blue-grey eyes scanned the scene. "What…happened, Ryou?" Keiichiro asked as calmly as possible.

"You passed out. Had another one of those headaches you told me about, I suspect. I _told_ you that you could have more time off, but _what_ did you say?" Ryou grumbled.

"I'm sorry." Keiichiro smiled slightly at his friend.

"Stop with the stupid 'I'm sorry' crud! It's not your fault you're sick or that you made us worry! Nothing is your fault! Get that through your thick skull right this instant, or I will force feed the idea to you by not allowing to work for three whole weeks for every time you say those two idiotic words. 'I'm sorry' will not be spoken by you as long as I still have the key to this cafe." Ryou glared at his friend, looking his straight in his blue-grey eyes.

"In fact, you are not working for three weeks already because of the last apology. Got that!? Either you get the idea that this is not your fault, or it's going to be month after month of no work, especially at the rate you normally ask for forgiveness."

Keiichiro stared at his friend for a moment.  
"So all I have to do is tell you I get the idea this is not my fault and never say sorry for the rest of my life and I'll get to go back to work after three weeks." The brunette verified.

"Yep. Pretty much."

"Don't you think that's kind of **excessive**? I mean, I'm older than you and you're ordering me around. I see a huge problem there. I can run my own life, I hope you know." The Akasaka stared down his friend.

"Okay, maybe it was a little excessive, but its for your own good." Ryou pressed on. "Anyway, a week of rest won't kill you, will it?"

"No, but it will make me very agitated."

"Good, its settled! You take a week out of work and at least **try **to stop saying sorry all the time, and I continue work here until you get back. Then you come back, and everything's alright, okay? That sounds fair to you?" Ryou quickly added on the last question, not wanting to get his usually overly-smiley comrade angry.

Keiichiro sighed. "If that's what you want, then sure." The Akasaka smiled, his eyes looking resigned.

Ryou nodded. "Alright then."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Things were settled, at least for the week Keiichiro was away from work.

Ryou knew that he would have to find out what was causing Keiichiro's migraines before the week was through, else he would either have to persuade his friend to remain idle a bit longer (a daunting task, seeing as how annoyed Keiichiro was getting with all his missed days of work) or risk spreading toxicity and pestilence throughout Tokyo and the Mew Mews by letting the baker associate himself with them.  
The blonde typed away furiously in his lab, eyes glued to the monitor displaying DNA mechanics and the functions and symptoms of various vaccines and sicknesses as he desperately tried to find matches between what Keiichiro was suffering from and viruses from all over the world.  
The blue-eyed boy suddenly stopped typing, taking a break to sip his hot chocolate, putting his mug down on his desk with an weary sigh.  
Ryou was having a hard time concentrating on his work; the voices in his head spinning doubt panic and fear in his head like a spider's web, covering everything.

_Akasaka Keiichiro, my dear friend._

_What if he is Deep Blue? Will we have to fight him, if he does become some sort of alien war-lord?  
He'd know all our plans and strategies for fighting the aliens, know every means of defense we could ever possibly come up with because he's worked by my side in designing everything! He'd smash Earth completely into subservience._

_What if he's sick with some alien diseases? He could infect other people. He could infect the Mews!  
He could die._

_He could **die**. He could drop down unconscious from one of his migraines and we'd wait for him to get up, and he wouldn't. He would just stop breathing._

_How very simple too, being asleep, and then you just stop your heart. How very simple.  
How simply easy._

How simply easily horrible and life-ruining.  
He **can't** die! Isn't that like against the rules or something? Doesn't some huge macho all-powerful being who rules over the Earth have a Manual to Life or something that says in big bold letters; **DO NOT KILL OFF AKASAKA KEIICHIRO OR BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN!! **Because bad things will happen if he dies! He's all I really have left, minus the Mew Project and Ichigo, but Ichigo doesn't even return my feelings!

Ryou buried his face in his hands, looking away from his computer screen for the first time in hours.

_Hell, he doesn't even know he's sick. Or that he could die. Or that he could turn into Deep Blue and kick the world to next Tuesday.  
I haven't told him yet.  
Nobody's told him yet._

_Nobody's told him yet._

The realization of the fact hit Ryou like a brick to the head.

_Oh god.  
Should we tell him?_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey everybody! :D Finally got this chapter up.  
enjoy and comment, as always.  
I tried to fix the previous chapters of this story because of all their spelling errors, but, me being new to , I don't know how. I tried, I really did, but nothing I've done so far has worked.  
I'll keep trying though! I promise! Sorry about all the mistakes! D:  
Baii,  
**~Endwithabang**


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